THIRD LNG-FUELLED E-FLEXER NEWBUILD TO BE CHARTERED TO BRITTANY FERRIES

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Brittany Ferries has announced the charter of a third brand new cruise ferry to serve its long-haul routes between UK and Spain. To be powered by LNG, the ship is being built at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China and is due to join the fleet in 2023.

As yet unnamed, the new ship, to the Stena E-flexer design, will be the third such vessel chartered by Brittany Ferries from Stena RoRo. The other two ships, Galicia, scheduled for delivery in 2021 and Salamanca in 2022, will join the LNG-fuelled Honfleur, which is now expected in late 2019 following the problems at the builder, FSG, in Flensburg, Germany.

The 42,200 tonne E-Flexer is 215m long with capacity for about 1,000 passengers in 340 cabins, and 3,000 lane metres for cars and freight.

The company says that the charter agreement, which includes an option to purchase, represents the next step its fleet renewal and investment programme, centred on sustainability, and worth around €550m. It will offer increased capacity and comfort for customers as well as employment of French seafarers.

Brittany Ferries’ CEO Christophe Mathieu said: “We’re delighted to be adding another E-Flexer class cruise-ferry to our fleet. These are environmentally-friendly, capacious and comfortable ships which perfectly suit to our long-haul services. The charter will continue our fleet renewal plans, marking the fourth brand new ship in five years. It signals our confidence in the demand for ferry travel post-Brexit and will help us meet the needs of our passenger and freight customers in the decades to come. It also clearly demonstrates our commitment to LNG as a fuel and, our ambition to operate one of the most modern, green and comfortable ferry fleets in the world.”